Author: 'America Is Awash In Guns, Yet Crimes Are At Record Low'

PITTSBURGH (1020 NewsRadio KDKA) -- America is awash in guns, but crimes are at a record low.

That's the message from Andrew Cline, a columnist for the Federalist.

Cline joined KDKA NewsRadio 1020's Mike Pintek to talk about the connection between gun ownership and crime rates.

He says FBI data shows that between the years of 1993 and 2013 the number of people owning guns has gone up dramatically. From just under one gun per person in 1993 to nearly one and a half in 2013.

What's more, Cline says the call for an assault rifle ban is completely wrong.

"The data shows clearly people are lying, and lying to the American public about the relationship between gun ownership in the U.S. and gun homicide," Cline said.

Cline said the FBI data shows that from 2010 to 2014 the rifle homicide rate, including assault rifles, fell by a third.

During that time, sales of rifles actually went up 28% each year, not total, but each one of those years.

"If you look at all homicides, we are at a low point in more than half a century," Cline said.

Cline told Pintek the homicide rate, the last time there was full data, hasn't been this low since the early 1960s.

"If you are the average American, 37 years of old, you are less likely to be murdered than at any point you've been alive," Cline said.

Pintek believes the reason the homicide rate dropped while gun ownership rose is due to law abiding citizens owning guns.

In Mike's opinion, it's not a gun control problem, it's a terrorist control problem.

You can hear the rest of Mike's interview with Cline here:

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